


A Deal with the Devil, the Cursed Savior

by InkWave



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christianity, Finding a new home, Gen, Magical Vows, Old Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-11
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 02:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/999623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkWave/pseuds/InkWave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Dursley's had been a bit more Christian? Harry's perspective on magic is a bit more open to interpretation of dark and light considering he grew up being called 'devil's spawn'. So when a devil offer's him a deal, he takes it. Mentor Voldemort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Harry’s world changed the moment he finally understood why his relatives called him a devil’s spawn. Usually they just called him a freak or boy. But when he did something especially freakish, like growing a full head of hair in a night, the references to being a child of the devil came out. His relatives had always kept fantasy books out of the house, but in general they didn’t appreciate the sight of him reading. They thought it made him look smarter than Dudder’s, which he was but they were still in denial. The only book they truly allowed him to read in peace was the Bible.  
His first bible was the King James version but as the year’s past Harry managed to read both the new and old testament. He had even read an English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Koran. The church that the Dursley’s attended had bible study classes for the children. And the teacher had allowed him to borrow the books. The teacher had taken is desire for the books as a true interest, rather than a desperate desire to read something different, and had started to teach him Latin.  
But despite all his reading or studying as it became in reality, Harry never believed in God, at least not personally. He believed in a higher power but not in a personal savior that would punish him for his sins. Why would he? The Dursley’s were certainly punishing him for absolutely no reason.  
It took him years, happening a little before his tenth birthday, for him to put all the pieces together. He was a witch.  
Against his better instincts Harry confronted the Dursley’s one Sunday before church, the one day he got wear clothing that fit him. “Aunt Petunia, how long have you known I was a witch?”  
His aunt screamed in shock and dropped her tea cup, causing it to shatter on the tile floor of the kitchen. “Who told you about magic, devil’s spawn?” she hissed in anger. Dudley was looking around stupidly not understanding what was going on. Vernon’s face looked like it was going to explode it was so red.  
“I figured it out from reading the Bible,” Harry replied pleased because he knew from experience that this answer wouldn’t get him smacked.  
“The Bible?” she hissed in shock. “We taught you about God to try and purify you of the evil freakish taint. Not to teach you about it. But blood always hold’s true.”  
“We were supposed to work the magic out of you. Make you normal, not another devil’s spawn,” Vernon yelled.  
“Does that mean that my parents were freaks too?” Harry asked.  
“Yes, my precious sister Lily,” Petunia sneered bitterly, “was a freak as well. She received a letter when she was eleven inviting her to the devilish school. She was never the same, they tainted my sister.” Harry struggled to hide his excitement, his relatives never told him about his parents. All he had known before was their names and that they died in a drunken driving accident.  
“And then another devil’s spawn killed her and her freak husband as well. Which made another devilish freak drop you off on our doorstep,” Vernon said angrily. “They didn’t give us any of your paperwork or money to support you.”  
“Lily supposedly married a Lord, but that didn’t do them any good at all,” Petunia put in.  
“Will I stop doing mag …” Harry stopped at the evil glare his Aunt and Uncle gave him, “… doing freakish things when I go to school?”  
His aunt looked at him shrewdly and then stated, “It certainly improved and since the school is a boarding school she was gone most of the year.”  
“Petunia,” Vernon said looking at his watch, “ we need to leave now to make it on time to church.” Harry got up to put on his good shoes for church, before his Uncle grabbed his shoulder. “What do you think you’re doing devil’s spawn? Church hasn’t purified you and your kind isn’t welcome there. You shouldn’t pollute the church for everyone else.”  
Harry looked up and with the cunning he used to better his life responded, “I need to go to church of Father Philips will miss me. I’m his best student and we’ve been going to church for years. If you stopped bringing me with you to church it wouldn’t be normal.”  
And that was that. Despite their supposed worship of God, the Dursley’s held a higher regard for normalcy. So Harry continued to go to church holding the idea of magic tightly to himself. He found a new found interest in his religious texts as he learned about magic and demons from it. In response to his belief his magic started to calm, no longer reacting so violently to his emotions. All in all everyone in the Dursley household was pleased to have the topic discussed and over with. Dudley even started to avoid him at school because he wanted to avoid being contaminated. All in all Christianity had finally done Harry a good turn.

*--__--*

The arrival of Harry’s Hogwarts letter was thankfully delayed due to bad weather. By the time the owl arrived Vernon had already left for work and Dudley hd already gone to meet his friends. Harry quickly opened the envelope and scanned its contents before bringing it to Aunt Petunia.  
“Aunt Petunia … the school invitation arrived.”  
She looked up concerned for a moment. After reading the letter inside she frowned again. Lily’s letter had been delivered by a Professor to explain things and take her shopping. Petunia was not going anywhere near magic. “Write back that they need to send someone to explain magic to you. Also don’t expect us to pay for any of this. You’re lucky Vernon’s already left.”  
Harry nodded before asking tentatively, “Why did you let me stay if you knew I was going to … be like my parents?”  
“When they left you on the doorstep, like a carton of milk, there was a letter. It said if we let you stay in the house until you were 17 then we would be protected from any freaks,” Petunia replied without much of the usual cruel disdain of anything abnormal.  
“When I came back from school … Uncle Vernon?” Harry asked tentatively.  
Petunia for once did something considerate for her nephew and told him the truth. “Never come back. Do whatever you have to, make a deal with the devil for all I care. Just don’t come back. Vernon … Vernon has accepted your presence so far because of how devoted to God you have been. As a good Christian he wouldn’t hurt you, but if you go to the school you will be tainted. After that, I fear he will take inspiration from the Inquisition.”  
Harry nodded fear rising within him. He knew quite well what happened during the Inquisition. He quickly wrote his response to the acceptance letter and asked for them to get him a few days before school. He could save some money from getting his supplies to pay for an Inn, or something.  
A couple days later he received a response that someone would come for him on August 25th. He could barely wait for the weeks to pass, not only because he would learn the truth of magic but to escape his Uncle’s assessing eye. 

*--__--*  
Harry had quite liked Hagrid, but he hadn’t provided a very good introduction to magic. He was having trouble thinking of himself as a wizard, since he had personally thought himself a witch due to the references in the Bible. And he couldn’t exactly escape the label of freak or devil’s spawn wither. Despite his basic conflict with religion Harry had taken all four of his religious texts with him to the magical world. They were the only thing other than his Sunday clothes and Dudley’s cast-offs that he owned. He had spent so much time flipping through them he wasn’t going to leave them for his relatives to dispose of.  
After shopping with Hagrid he had gotten a room at the Leaky Cauldron. So that next morning he had gone down to breakfast and brought his bible with him. The bartender Tom had looked shocked at the book. “Mr. Tom,” Harry asked, “what do wizard’s believe in? I was forced to learn what muggles believe in, but what is the magical version?”  
Tom had given him an eye opening view of the magical world. Not only did witch’s and wizard’s have different beliefs, customs, and laws. Magic had rules, from the basic tenants of transfiguration to complex magical vows. But the most useful thing Tom had told him to do was check with the goblins before he bought any books since he might already own them.   
The Goblins once he had known to ask for more than money had been incredibly useful. And after mentioning that he had heard about his father being a Lord, they quickly explained that he would need to be 17 to claim his heritage. But that any books in the main Potter vault could be accessed, only the money and jewels couldn’t be touched until he was off age.  
Having become quite accustomed to reading harry gathered a large amount of books in a small bottomless bag he had found in the main vault. And by the time he was packing to leave for the Hogwarts express he had made quite a bit of progress on his journal that documented the rules of the wizarding world and why each existed.  
Some of them would seem self-explanatory such as ‘Avoid prison’. But he detailed the reference to soul-sucking demons called Dementors that sucked the happiness out of you. All in all, the Bible seemed a bit too accurate about magic for Harry.  
*--__--*

Hogwarts in general had been a mix of contradictions for Harry. While he was very happy to escape the Dursley’s the magical world wasn’t welcoming at all for arrival new to it. The days of research in Diagon Alley might have taught him some of the basics, but in general he was still lost. His unexpected and unwelcome status as a celebrity didn’t help either. He had been sorted into Gryffindor, following Hagrid’s and Ron Weasley’s advice instead of Slytherin. But it hadn’t made things easier either way. Ron kept distracting him with wizarding games and didn’t have much to say about magic, despite Harry’s questions. The questions always seemed to bore Ron so Harry continued his extracurricular reading.  
Snape had been the most useless teacher so far, it had taken him months to come close to understanding the rules of potions. It seemed to work on a scale of bases and acids with each ingredient tipping the scale one way or the other depending on how it was prepared. Most potions when completed were neutral with the ingredients properties determining what the potion did. But even understanding that didn’t make him a better brewer since he wasn’t sure how to adjust for any mistakes.  
But Harry’s main concern other than surviving his day to day school life, was finding someplace to live this summer. He started out by talking to Ron.  
“Ron, where do magical orphans live?” Harry asked one day when they were playing chess in the great hall.  
Ron was paying close attention to his pieces before making a move, he then absentmindedly answered, “There aren’t any magical orphans. They go to their closest magical relative and since the purebloods are so interrelated it works out.”  
Harry had then researched the Potter family tree and found out that the Blacks were his closest relatives. Meaning he should have been sent to live with either the Malfoy’s or the Tonks. But Andromeda Tonks nee Black had been disinherited, ruling her out. The Malfoy’s on the other hand had assisted the man who murdered his parents, unwillingly or not, making them a bad choice as well. Not that he had particularly looked forward to living with Draco Malfoy since he had been a prat so far.  
His next inquiry a few weeks later had been to Hagrid. “Hagrid, did my parents not have any friends that could have taken me in after I died?” He had asked the question on one of Ron, Hermione, and his visits for tea. Hermione had been an interesting friend so far. But she seemed a bit too obsessed with school books.  
“Well,” Hagrid replied hesitantly, “the only friend of your parent’s that was alive, well, and not in prison couldn’t have gotten custody of you legally. He has even had a lot of trouble keeping his job because of his status.” Then the Dragon’s egg in Hagrid’s soup cauldron started shaking and the conversation had been derailed. Further research had revealed what could make a person ineligible for guardianship if they weren’t in prison, sick or violent. Having the blood of a magical creature in sufficient quantity, particularly of a dark creature, was the only Ministry constraint left.  
Harry wasn’t sure why but Dumbledore called him to his office the day before his detention for smuggling the dragon out of the school that no one knew about except for Draco Malfoy. It soon became obvious why the Headmaster had called him to his office.  
“Now, my dear boy, I hear you are trying to find someone to take you in over the summer. I know you didn’t go home over the winter holidays but you shouldn’t be against muggles now that you’ve learned about magic,” Professor Dumbledore stated with a kindly smile that seemed to hide a bit too much of the Professor’s real opinion.  
“I need to find a place to stay this summer, because I can’t go back to my relatives. My Aunt told me so before I left,” Harry replied.  
“She can’t have meant that, my boy. I’m sure you just misunderstood. The safest place for you is at your Aunt and Uncle’s,” Professor Dumbledore responded steam rolling over any of Harry’s attempts to protest.  
Harry left the Headmaster’s office in slight shock. The kindly, grandfatherly professor who knew his parents hadn’t accepted a word he said and had insisted on him being sent back to his relatives. Dumbledore had also strongly suggested that he would make sure Harry got there, making running away not an option. He knew there would be a magical way to find him.  
Any worries that he might have held about Professor Snape trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone faded away. What did he care if Professor Snape wanted to live another couple hundred years? Did it even matter that he’d never learn why Voldemort had killed his parents and tried to kill him? No. If Harry went back to the Dursley’s his Uncle would kill him, horribly. A clean death would be better than that.  
When he had initially read about the Inquisition Harry had the initial young boy’s interest in gross things. But then he had learned what some of the torture techniques described in the history books actually meant. But the true horror hadn’t him until walking to school one day he had come across a car accident that had lit the car and its driver on fire. The smell of burning meat, the taste of gasoline in the air, and the blackened body now dominated his mind whenever he thought of the witch burnings.  
History of Magic hadn’t really talked about it yet since Professor Binns was so obsessed with Goblin wars. But he had read a few books in the library which had clearly stated that, while muggles hadn’t often caught real witches and wizard’s they had still burned hundreds especially children too young to use magic to help them escape.  
He needed to find someone to keep him safe, and soon.


	2. Meeting the Devil

Chapter 2

It was the beginning of spring at Hogwarts, but that meant quite little as the castle was in northern Scotland. Harry was shivering slightly as he waited with Ron, Hermione, and Draco as Hagrid prepared to take them into the Forbidden Forest. “Now we are all here to find the injured Unicorn in the forest. As you can see their blood is silver colored. To find the Unicorn quickly we are going to split up into groups,” Hagrid said preparing them to split up.  
“Hagrid,” Harry asked, “what are we supposed to do when we find the Unicorn? Is there a way we can heal it?”  
“Ah, I was just going to tell you that,” Hagrid replied looking a little repentant for being so forgetful. “If you find the Unicorn send up green sparks. If you get into trouble send up red sparks, not that we won’t hurry either way.”  
“W-what type of trouble?” Draco asked already looking terrified.  
“Is there really a way to heal a Unicorn?” Hermione asked.  
Hagrid sighed, “There is a way to heal a Unicorn but the Ministry doesn’t really approve of it. If you cut yourself and offer the Unicorn your blood and magic they can usually use it to heal themselves. As for dangers in the forest, there are a few creatures but they will avoid Fang and I. But some of the magical plants are dangerous as well so be sure to stay on the paths. Now why don’t Ron and Hermione go together, and Draco and Harry as the other pair.”  
“Then I want Fang,” Draco proclaimed grabbing onto the big dog’s fur.  
Hagrid shrugged, “Well he’s a big coward, but have it your way. Now I’ve seen drops of Unicorn blood on both of these paths so we will split up here.” His group quickly disappeared into the darkness making Draco look even more scared.  
“Let’s go, Malfoy,” Harry said impatient to start searching.  
“Aren’t you scared Potter?” Malfoy asked for once not sounding like a rich snob, which had been his standard all throughout the year. But even so he followed Harry down the path, his hand still clenched in Fang’s fur.  
“A little bit,” Harry replied his eyes finally adjusting to the darkness lit only by the moon and the lantern he carried which shown only brightly enough for them to step over the roots and stones without tripping. “But I’m more concerned with helping the Unicorn. Unicorns are the most sacred magical creatures in the world.”  
“Don’t try and teach me the stories I grew up with,” Draco replied a little affronted at being taught a little kids lesson.  
“Oh, you were?” Harry replied, “I wish I could have learned about it when I was young so well. But some of the Unicorns legend is rather scary so maybe not.”  
“I know that if you drink Unicorn’s blood you are cursed to a half-life despite it keeping someone who might be on the verge of dying alive.” Draco let out a little squeak as he tripped over a moving root and moved closer to Harry and the light.  
“That’s only if the blood was unwillingly taken from the Unicorn. If its given willingly then it can perform miracles. No the scariest thing is if you kill a Unicorn or if you let one die,” Harry said knowledgably. He had just read about it in the library because he had heard Hagrid complaining that someone was injuring the Unicorns in the forest. “There is a story of two brothers Gaius and Clius. Their mother was ill and dying. None of the potions they knew or could buy could help her. Gaius had paid a fortune to various potion makers, while Clius researched in the greatest library of their time for a way to save her. Clius discovered a reference to Unicorn’s blood saving a man from certain death, so he returned home in triumph. Gaius was overjoyed as their mother was on death’s doorstep. The two men went into the forest and found the cleanest spring and waited for the Unicorns to return.”  
“Because Unicorns purify the water they drink,” Draco exclaimed completely caught up in the story. It was almost as if his mother or father was telling him this tale of warning.  
“Exactly,” Harry replied before continuing with the story. He still hadn’t seen a trace of Unicorn’s blood. “As the moon rose directly overhead, the Unicorn’s finally came. It was a male and female along with a foal. Clius slowly approached the Unicorns and begged for their help, but before the Unicorns could judge his plea Gaius mortally attacked the mother to draw blood. Clius turned on his brother in anger for hurting the Unicorn, but a gathering darkness had formed over Gaius and sucked out his soul for mortally wounding a unicorn.”  
“A Dementor,” Draco gasped. “Magic punished the man for hurting her most beloved creature by creating the most hated and feared.”  
“According to legend that is how they are created. A Dementor for every Unicorn killed by a magical being,” Harry replied solemnly the story finally captivating all his attention bringing them to a stop. “Now Clius, he had the opportunity to heal the Unicorn who was breathing her last breaths. But instead he gathered the Unicorns blood and raced home to save his mother before she died. He reached his sister who had tended to their mother for all those years and told her the tale. His sister was horrified at his actions and refused to give the blood to their unconscious mother. Before Clius could force his way past her the Unicorn died, cursing the man who let her die to lose everything he treasured. And within day he had. His mother died, his sister disowned him, telling the tale of his horrific actions. Clius was blinded in an accident, his eyes being precious to him as a scholar of some renown. The villagers turned him away forcing him from his home, and he traveled as a beggar forced from town after town for the cursed misfortunes he brought with him. He died alone and forgotten except as a tale of warning.”  
“Wow,” was all Draco could say in response to the story. “You might be one of the best storytellers I’ve ever heard, Potter.”  
“Really?” Harry asked, blushing a bit at the sincere compliment from someone who had always been mean to him. But Harry was distracted from their conversation by the wet silver blood he had spotted. “Look, Malfoy,” Harry sad as he pointed the Unicorn’s blood out. With one glance between them they ran down the path, neither wanting to let a Unicorn die when they could stop it, particularly since that had been their quest when entering the forest.  
After almost falling several times they came across the Unicorn gravely injured lying on its side. Hurrying toward it Draco felt the chest move under his hand. “Harry, let me go first as thanks for teaching me the consequences,” Malfoy said before cutting his palm with his wand. “I offer you my blood and magic to heal you.” The Unicorn licked Malfoy’s palm accepting his gift. Malfoy gave a serene little smile, sent up green sparks and then passed out from using too much magic. Harry quickly cut and offered his own palm to the Unicorn, because while Draco’s magic had certainly helped the Unicorn it was still gravely injured. “I offer my blood and magic as a gift to heal you, blessed of magic.” The Unicorn looked at him intently before licking his palm as well. Harry felt quite faint but he could see that the Unicorn was completely healed as it left the clearing.  
“Why did you do that?” a voice hissed from the darkness, before shaping into a being cloaked in darkness.  
Harry said the first thing that came to mind, “Are you a devil?”  
“No, but I am certainly not an angel in any sense of the word.”  
“I know, you’ve accepted the curse of taking a Unicorn’s blood unwillingly. You almost killed on. You would’ve lost your soul,” Harry said panic stricken at the thought.  
The dark wraith replied with scorn, “That is just folklore.”  
“But killing a Unicorn creates a Dementor,” Harry replied his voice trailing off from stridently angry as he realized the kind of monster he was in front of. “Why, if you were almost dead, would you want your soul sucked out and destroyed over centuries inside a Dementor.”  
“That is true, Master,” another voice came from the wraith sounding weak and sniveling.  
“Possession,” Harry whispered making the sign of the cross instinctively.  
A haunting laugh came from the wraith. “The savior of the wizarding world is a Christian. It seems the rumors that you were left with muggles is true.”  
“I don’t worship God,” Harry replied frightened but firm. “I wishi to worship magic, but Christianity and its form of worship is all I know. The muggle all worship one god in different forms or with different figures to represent the facet of God’s personality. Why can’t magical have something similar.”  
“You would learn the Olde Ways boy?” the wraith asked curiously. He explained after seeing Harry’s confusion, “The Olde Ways are the religion and traditions of old that only purebloods try to follow now.” The wraith considered Harry once again, seeing Harry’s need for those secrets in his body as he leaned forward, almost falling over. “I could teach you many things boy, in exchange for your help in regaining a body.”  
Lightening struck Harry, or at least that was what it felt like internally. This was his chance. If he made a deal with this devil, than he would be safe. His savior would be cursed to a half-life for taking a Unicorn’s blood, but if he repented to magic he might be forgiven. “If I help you regain a body and help you regain magic’s favor will you teach me and keep me safe?”  
“I accept you vow,” the wraith replied. “So mote it be.”  
“So mote it be,” Harry replied wondering what trouble he had gotten himself into now and with who?


End file.
